Traction, generally, is the application of a force to stretch or distract a particular part of the body in a specific direction. Traction of a hip joint, more specifically known as the femoral-acetabular joint, may be utilized to assist treatment of a dislocated or broken hip, degenerative joint disease or osteoarthritis of the hip, post-surgical mobilization of the hip joint in cases such as resurfacing or labral repair, and any other condition of the hip when compression or restriction of movement is present. A purpose of hip traction may be to stretch and mobilize the soft tissues around the hip to allow the femoral head to move back into, or more properly within, the hip socket or acetabulum. Traditionally, traction has been applied to a hip by attaching one end of a rope to a person's lower leg and using weights to apply a force to the other end of the rope. A frame positioned over the leg provides a way to suspend and elevate the leg to a proper hip flexion angle. The frame also provides a pulley mounting location for hanging the weight from the frame. In addition, medical and osteopathic physicians, physical therapists, chiropractors, and other health care providers have used their hands to manually apply the traction force in a clinical setting.
This traditional traction arrangement has proven to be cumbersome. For example, set-up can require selecting weights from an inventory of weights and then attaching the appropriate combination to the rope depending on the length and weight of each leg. Set-up can also require assembling multiple parts attached to frames around the patient, which can require the involvement of multiple individuals. In many cases, it can take much more time to set-up for traction than is required to perform the actual treatment.
Moreover, applying traction in a duty cycle is not easy with the traditional traction arrangement. A traction duty cycle may include a period of time when force is applied followed by a period of time when no force is applied. With the traditional traction arrangement, this requires someone (other than the patient) to regularly attach and remove the weights from the end of the rope. This is a costly and inefficient use of time.
Having a medical provider, such as a physical therapist, apply the traction manually is very effective and may likely be the gold standard of hip traction. However, as mentioned above, this can require another individual to apply the traction and the patient usually must be in a clinical setting. For many, this is not feasible on a daily basis and can get expensive for both the patient and the patient's insurance company. Thus, there is a need for a hip joint traction device that a patient can use without another's assistance and in a setting away from a clinic or hospital.